Onion Curry

#OnionCurry : Last week I made salad for a pooled lunch in our club. The top and bottom portions of onions were left out after slicing circular pieces from it. The left over onions were nearly quarter kilogram. I filled it in an airtight box and stored in the fridge. I was wondering how to consume all those onions when I went to sleep that night.
Suddenly an idea struck me!! My mom used to prepare onion curry and pack lunch box with poori rolls keeping this curry inside. It used to be one of my favorites. I haven't done this curry for ages!!!
Next day morning I decided to make poori and yummy onion curry as side dish.
I have added baby #FenugreekLeaves in the end to make the curry more nutritious. Fenugreek leaves are known as #Venthayakeerai in Tamil and it is called #methy in Hindi.
Here comes the recipe.

Ingredients:
4 or 5	Onion, slice thinly
4 or 5	Curry leaves, chop nicely
1/4 Tsp	Turmeric powder
1 Tsp	Sambar powder
3/4 Tsp	Salt
To Temper:
3 Tsp	Oil
1/2 Tsp	Mustard seeds
1 Tsp	Black gram split [ urad dhal ]
Optional Ingredient:
1/2 cup	fenugreek leaves [ venthaya keerai ]

Method :

Heat a kadai on a stove over medium flame.
Splutter mustard and then add black gram and roast till it becomes golden color.

Then add curry leaves, turmeric powder and onions.
Saute for a minute.

Now add  sambar powder and salt.
Stir well and let it simmer on slow flame.
Keep stirring at regular intervals.

After some time the raw smell goes off and onions become shiny.
A nice aroma fills the kitchen.
Turn off the stove. Transfer the prepared curry into a serving bowl.

Suppose fenugreek leaves are taken chop nicely and add finally.
Saute for a minute. Transfer into a serving bowl.

Note : If sambar powder is not available then red chilly powder and coriander powder in the ratio of 1 : 2 can be used. But according to my taste buds, this curry tastes very good with 
sambar powder only.

For Lunch box packing :

• Flatten the poori.
• Spread the prepared curry evenly over it.
• Roll tightly.
• Wrap the poori with tissue paper.
• Arrange inside the tiffin box.
• In the same way chappathy rolls can also be prepared.

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Onion Sambar

#OnionSambar : #Sambar is done with sambar vegetables and small onion. But Sambar can also be prepared only with small onions.This onion sambar tastes very very good as small onion gives a nice taste and aroma. In cities like Chennai and Bangalore small onion [ shallots ] is known as sambar onion.

Ingredients :
Cooked thuvar dhal                         : 3 tblsp
Tamarind                                        : 1 small nellikkai ( amla ) size
Tomato                                          : 1
Murungai keerai
( drumstick leaves )                        : small amount ( optional )
Small onion                                     : 20 to 25
Green chilly                                     : 2
Curry leaves                                    : 8 to 10
Coriander leaves                               : small amount to garnish

sambar powder                               : 2 tsp ( adjust )
Coriander powder                            : 1 tsp
Turmeric powder                              : a pinch
Salt                                                 : 2 tsp ( adjust )

Mustard seeds                                  : 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida                                        : 1/4 tsp
Oil                                                   : 1 tsp

Method :
Soak tamarind in hot water.

Peel off onions and split green chilly lengthwise.

Cut tomato into eight equal pieces.

Wash curry leaves, coriander leaves and pat dry with a clean cloth.

Take cooked dhal in a small cooker / pressure pan and mash with a ladle or potato masher adding one cup of water.
Add turmeric powder, Sambar powder , coriander powder and keep on slow flame.

Keep a kadai with a tsp of oil on another burner.
First splutter mustard seeds then add asafoetida, curry leaves, split green chilly and finally onion in the order. Saute till you get nice aroma of onions.
Then add tomato and saute for few seconds.

Transfer into boiling sambar.

Now squeeze tamarind with 3/4 cup of water and strain the juice into cooker.

Add salt and close cooker with weight on.
Allow it to cook for one whistle.

Open after the steam subsides and if needed keep on slow flame and allow to boil for 3 more minutes.
Now sambar is ready.

Transfer into a serving bowl.
Garnish with coriander leaves.

Take hot white rice in a plate and add ladle full of sambar.

Add few drops of ghee or gingelly oil.

Mix well and enjoy with any

stir fry / curry of your choice.

This sambar goes well with pongal also.

You might like to try

Aviyal

Venthaya kuzhambu

vathakuzhambu

Vadai morekuzhambu

Vazhaipoo Kuzhambu

Potato sambar

Murungaikai katharikkai sambar

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Vengaya Vadavam

#VengayaVadavam or #VengayaVadagam is a preserve of dried onion with spices and dal. Usually vadavam is prepared during Summer and when onions are available at a cheap price. This dried onion can be preserved and used for a year or more. It has to be tempered in hot oil and used as seasoning for koottu, kuzhambu and sambar. Thuvaiyal [ chutney ] called Vadavathuvaiyal is also prepared from vengaya vadavam.

Vengaya Vadavam or Vengaya Vadagam
Dried Shallots with condiments.

Ingredients :
1 kg                                      Small Onion
20 cloves                               Garlic
1/4 cup                                 Mustard seeds
1 Tsp                                    Turmeric powder
1 Tsp                                    Curry leaf powder
2 Tbsp                                 Salt [ adjust ]
To Soak :
3 Tbsp                                 Urad dal
1 Tbsp                                 Fenugreek [ venthayam ]
1 Tbsp                                 Cumin

To add :
1 1/2 Tsp                            Castor oil

Day 1 Morning :
Remove skins of onions and garlic.

Nicely chop onion and garlic in the evening.

Day 1 Evening :
Take chopped onion and garlic in a big vessel.
Add turmeric powder, mustard seeds, 2 Tsp cumin seeds and salt.

Mix well, close with a lid and allow to stand over night.
Soak cumin seeds, fenugreek and urad dal in another small bowl.

Day 2 Morning :
Open the lid and mix well with a ladle. The mixture would be slightly watery.

Drain water completely from soaked dal.

Grind coarsely using a mixer grinder.

Add to the chopped onion mixture and stir well with a ladle.

Spread on a big plate and dry in the Sun.

Day 2 Evening :
Add castor oil and mix well using hand.
Roll into equal sized balls.

Day 3 :
Dry outside under the Sun.

Morning kept under the Sun to dry 

At noon drying 

Day 4 Morning :
Take each ball in your hand and give little pressure and tighten the balls.
Some mustard seeds and dal added to the mixture falls down while tightening the balls.
Collect those loose things in a small plate and again dry under the SUN.

Dry another two to three days or until the balls completely dries up.
Then store in an airtight bottle.

Vengaya Vadavam or Vengaya Vadagam
Dried Shallots with condiments.

This can be preserved like this for a year or more provided its dried in the Sun without any water content.

Take one or two balls and store in a small container for daily use.



Other recipes you might like to try

Vengaya Sambar

Vadavathuvaiyal

Vengaya vathal

Vazhaipoo koottu

Parangi pinju koottu

v

Vengaya Vathal - Onion Fryums

Vathal ( வற்றல் ) means drying or a way of preserving abundantly available vegetables, mangoes and rice preparations in the Sun for future use. During Summer my mother used to make different types of fryums and store in air tight tins. These fryums are fried in hot oil which goes well with all types of mixed rice, sambar rice and rasam rice.
Onion fryums is the all time favorite of everyone and it is a good accompaniment to kothamalli pulillacurry.
My mother used to make in large quantity. But I tried in a small level.

Ingredients :
Boiled rice ( Idly rice )                                       : 2 cups
Green chilly                                                       : 6 ( adjust )
Jeera                                                                 : 2 tsp
sego (sabudana - ஜவ்வரிசி )                          : 1/4 cup
small onion                                                         : 75gm
salt                                                                    : 3 tsp

Method :
One day before wash & soak rice in water.
Grind nicely using a wet grinder or mixer grinder.
Add 2 tsp of salt to the batter.
Close with a lid and allow to ferment.

Next day early morning keep a thick bottomed vessel ( or cooker ) on stove.
Add 4 cups of water.

Now coarsely grind green chilly and jeera in a mixer grinder without water first.
Then add little water and make a coarse paste. keep aside.


Add 1/2 cup of water to already prepared batter, Mix well.
Slowly pour into the vessel with water and also add prepared chilly - jeera paste.
Keep the flame at medium position.

Keep stirring with long ladle otherwise the batter may get stuck at the bottom.
Meantime cook sego in a cooker - 3 whistle & 5 mins at SIM position.

First the batter turns into porridge ( கஞ்சி ) consistency.
Reduce flame to SIM position. Keep on stirring.
Slowly it starts thickening and starts leaving the sides of the vessel.

It takes approximately 45 minutes to cook vathal dough.
This vathal dough - koozh is very tasty n spicy.
Once ready turns off the stove and close with a lid.
Nicely chop small onions.

Add cooked sego [ javvarisi ] and onions to the dough.
Mix well.

Now the vathal dough is ready.

Our next task is to make small pakodas & dry them in the Sun.
Spread a plastic sheet on a plate and spread pakodas over it.
While making pakodas, enjoy tasting one or two!!
Dry them in the Sun the whole day.

Then take out from the sheet and transfer onto a plate.

first day after 4 hrs transferred from plastic sheet to plate

Keep in the hot Sun for next 2 to 3 days to completely dry well.

3rd day drying in the Sun

Store in an air tight container.

Keep a kadai on a stove with oil. The oil should be very hot and slightly fuming.
Place four or five in the oil and fry.

Drain oil and transfer into a container lined with kitchen paper to absorb excess oil.

Store in an airtight container 

Note : Take the prepared koozh in a small cup.

Make a pit at the centre and fill the pit with a tsp of gingelly oil ( till oil ).

Mmmmm..... now taste ah! aha! no chance... 
nothing equal to it!!

Other recipes you might like to try

Vengaya Sambar

Vadavathuvaiyal

Vengaya vadagam

Vazhaipoo koottu

Parangi pinju koottu